CONSTANT AND DECREASING TIMING AVERSION FOR SAVING LIVES

The traditional model of time preferences employed by economists is ch aracterised by constant timing aversion. The available evidence sugges ts that this is not an appropriate assumption. This paper examines evi dence for constant and decreasing timing aversion with respect to savi ng lives. Three discounting models are considered: the constant discou nting model; the proportional discounting model; and the hyperbolic di scounting model. Data collected from the general public are used to te st the constant timing aversion model. Overall, the findings suggest t hat there is substantial evidence for decreasing timing aversion and a gainst the constant timing aversion hypothesis. (C) 1997 Elsevier Scie nce Ltd.